Lighter shade of Infatuation
by Hotaru Aino
Summary: This was written a while ago and only now am I re-releasing it because of prodding by Spunky-Brewster.


Author: Nika Boadicea (or Hotaru Aino, it depends on where you're reading this)  
  
Title: Lighter Shade of Infatuation  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Pairing: HP/SS  
  
Summary: After the use of veritaserum proves to be inaccurate, Albus creates a magical chamber in Hogwarts where it is impossible to lie while standing inside it. Curious, Harry investigates. Grumbling, Snape must put the finishing touches to the charms. Snickering, Peeves locks the door. (Snaples)  
  
Disclaimer: If you think I own any of these characters then I've got a bridge to sell you ^.^  
  
Note: Part of "From Dusk til Dawn - the Harry Potter/Severus Snape Fuh-Q-Fest" at: http://www.kardasi.com/HPSS  
  
Warnings: Slash pairing between Harry Potter and Severus Snape, nothing too serious though as you could tell by the rating.  
  
Betas: Rem, Madre Bug and Medea Nevermore, I adore you all. ...Thank god I didn't empty the recycle...  
  
AN: This is a challenge by the Severus Snape/Harry Potter Fuh-Q Fest. This was written under the influence of Doobie Brothers, Great Big Sea, Oasis, Nickleback, Marmalade Boy and egg rolls. If you would like to: 1) Archive this; 2) Send me comments or 3) Send me flames then please e-mail me at eternal_ecchi@hotmail.com. That having been said, please enjoy ^.^;  
  
  
  
Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat in a room that was twelve feet square and decorated with only a few chairs. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows as he cast a wave of maroon sparks towards a wall, muttering incantations under his breath and cursing Professor Flitwick mentally. The diminutive Charms Professor had been called to a lecture in Southern Hampshire so Dumbledore called on Snape to finish adding the charms to a cell in the Hogwarts dungeon.  
  
Of late, certain people under Voldemort's power had begun to show a severe reaction to Veritaserum. They would commit suicide. Dumbledore needed a different way to deal with the captives. Filch had made a comment about 'throwing the blighters in a hole so deep they'd never be able to lie their way out'. Of course Dumbledore had taken the idea quite seriously and decided to renovate and re-enchant the existing dungeons. The Professors had all taken turns adding enchantments to the cell to make sure that: no one could exit unless someone outside opened the door; no one could tell a falsehood while in the room; and no one could do themselves bodily harm. There were, however, a few hexes added to the room that caused pain if a lie was told.  
  
It had finally come to Professor Flitwick's turn when he was called away. In reality, Snape didn't mind too much, but it bothered him that everyone assumed he had no private life. They all assumed that he had plenty of time to cast spells in a cell that they weren't even sure was safe. He -did- have a life after all, he just spent much of it brewing potions and brooding.  
  
The Potions Master sighed and rubbed his temples, trying to think of anything that he could have missed, when he heard a door slam shut. The first thing he heard after that was a familiar laugh. However, all light had been extinguished with the closing of the door, as there were no windows.  
  
"Peeves you stupid git, open the door!" Another familiar voice.  
  
"I don't think I will," the poltergeist giggled. "You're far too mean to me."  
  
"When I get out of here I'm going to get you," the voice swore in a venomous tone.  
  
"You'll have my help." Snape growled, rubbing his temples. "I just wanted to finish this and go read a novel but now my night is shot. All plans for peace have to be disrupted by that... that..."  
  
"Irritating little shit." Harry offered up.  
  
"Precisely Mr. Potter, and I will thank you to watch your language."  
  
There was a scuffling of feet and a dull *thud* as Harry walked into one of the chairs. Snape smiled to himself before casting a light spell. The Professor held his wand aloft as he chose a seat for himself, a few feet from his student. The smirk remained as Harry did his best to ignore him while he searched for his wand.  
  
"Don't bother, you can't unlock it." Snape deadpanned. "Don't you think I would've done that already?"  
  
"Oh." Harry sat down, momentarily defeated. "What is this place? I've never seen this part of Hogwarts before."  
  
"That's because this area is suppose to be hidden from student eyes. Only the Professors are allowed here. So Mr. Potter, you have some explaining to do. I suggest you try not to tell any lies. This room was specifically designed to keep one from lying while standing in this room."  
  
"But you can't lay while you're standing," the emerald eyed boy stated.  
  
"Falsehoods Potter, and stop stalling."  
  
"How does it stop you from lying?"  
  
"It's not pleasant." Snape said, narrowing his eyes. "Unless you're a masochist."  
  
Harry swallowed nervously and fingered his robes, obviously trying to think of what he could say without making it look too bad. Snape watched him with an amused look on his visage and leaned back in his chair, knowing that the next little while was going to be fun for him. The smile fell from his face when he realized Harry could do the same to him with an innocent question. Harry squirmed in his seat uncomfortably and Snape pinched the bridge of his nose.  
  
"That is another effect. If you do not answer a question the room will take it upon itself to provoke you to answer."  
  
"I was just walking around and I found the corridor leading here. I heard you grumbling and was wondering what was going on." Harry blushed. "I came down and saw you and..."  
  
"And?" Snape prompted, his heart beating a bit faster.  
  
Harry squirmed in his seat a bit, his brilliant green eyes darting towards the doorway as if he thought he might be able to break through it. Snape's eyes drifted to Harry's lips and saw that they were quivering. The Potions Master smiled inwardly and held himself from going to the boy's side. Harry was in almost all respects his father's son. He had his mother's eyes but in every other aspect, especially his hair, Harry could have been James' doppleganger.  
  
The fact that Snape had been attracted to James in school didn't help the current situation any.   
  
"And when I saw you I was wondering if I might help you."   
  
What Harry said came out almost as a question and the boy's skin soon turned pale. Snape jumped up when Harry doubled over, clutching his head in pain. He wasn't sure if it was Potter's scar or just the room, but Snape wanted to see if he could help. The boy was trembling when the Professor touched his arm and he looked up into Snape's cold black eyes.  
  
"How do I..?" Harry began.  
  
"You must correct yourself quickly Mr. Potter, or the pain will increase," Snape stated calmly.  
  
Harry looked away with a blush, not able to withstand the penetrating gaze of his Professor. The young man squeezed his eyes shut as he felt an invisible pressure on his lungs, making his chest burn.  
  
"When I saw you," Harry corrected himself, "I wanted to talk to you."  
  
"What did you wish to speak to me about?" Snape sighed. "We may very well have plenty of time on our hands, so speak up boy."  
  
Harry continued to squirm in his seat for a moment and scowled at Snape. "Why do you want to know anyway?"  
  
"You were the one who wanted to speak with me Mr. Potter," The older man rolled his eyes.  
  
"Right." Harry deadpanned. He hated being put on the spot. "I just wanted to talk I suppose."  
  
Snape leaned back and squelched the urge to bang his head against the wall. The Potions Master turned his gaze to the young man and internally quieted himself as he watched the Gryffindor carelessly push his unruly hair from his green eyes. Having a virile young man in the same -locked- room paired with his own overactive libido wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world. Snape guessed that he wouldn't be standing for the next little while, unless he got the insane urge to show The-Boy-Who-Lived the tent with his robes.   
  
"Professor," Harry began questioningly. "Are you ambidextrous?"  
  
Snape was surprised by the question but he chuckled as he answered. "You're observant Mr. Potter. Yes I am."  
  
"It's just that when I watch you in class, you can do things so easily with both hands." Harry continued. "Does that help at all when you make potions?"  
  
"Some would argue that it doesn't, but... yes, I believe so. It's much easier to mix a potion when you can be sure of what both hands are doing. Now you've asked me two questions, so in all fairness I should get my turn."  
  
It seemed like all the blood rushed from Harry's face, giving him a deathly pallor. Severus only smiled at the younger man and tapped the arm of his chair with his fingertips. He had never meant for the boy to become so adamantly adverse to him, it had just turned out that way. The Professor leaned forward in his chair, trying to get Harry to look him in the eye.  
  
"Mr. Potter, is the floor really that interesting?"  
  
"Is that your question?" Harry responded cheerfully. "And no, it's actually quite boring."  
  
"You shouldn't answer a question with a question, it's impolite." Snape chastised him blandly. "Now then Mr. Potter, do you believe you are ready for your test in potions tomorrow?"  
  
"You aren't going to quiz me are you?" Harry winced at the thought and then rolled his eyes. "And I didn't mean to be impolite, the question just popped out."  
  
"Teaching may be my profession, Mr. Potter, but I have no intentions of tutoring you unless you are willing to learn. I will not waste my time or patience on an unruly child."  
  
"I am not a child." Harry stated hotly. "I'm sixteen."  
  
"So at sixteen you are an adult? Does that make me ready for a mid-life crisis?" Snape snickered at the thought of riding around on a Firebolt like he had during the Quidditch championship in his fifth year.  
  
"It's not that funny," Harry murmured as Snape began to chuckle.  
  
The Potions Master covered his mouth and lowered his head so his student couldn't see him as well and tried to keep in the laughter. Harry saw him shake his head and then look up with merriment in his dark eyes his face was utterly serious.   
  
"No it's not," Severus shook his head once more. "We need to keep up a good conversation or I'm going to go insane."  
  
"Remind me again what the downside would be." Harry said innocently.  
  
"The fact that you would join me in my non-lucidity."  
  
"Is that even a word?"  
  
"It is now." Snape stated, keeping a straight face.  
  
Harry blinked and then chuckled, moving the hair from his eyes as he tried to think of something to say. He wasn't sure if his Professor actually liked Quidditch and there probably wasn't much that they actually had in common.  
  
"I don't know what to say," Harry admitted finally, feeling the silence was oppressing.  
  
"That just means that we have less to argue about."  
  
"Not necessarily. Even with a little bit of information a person can have an opinion and then it would probably be much different from yours, Professor."  
  
"You are too intelligent for your own good." Snape muttered, his eyes darkening slightly.  
  
"Is that a compliment?"  
  
"Only if you see fit to take it as such."  
  
"What would you like to talk about?" Harry offered politely. "What are you thinking of?"  
  
"Nothing you could handle."  
  
"Why won't you treat me as an adult? I should think after all that's happened I can handle a simple adult conversation." Harry replied hotly.  
  
Snape decided then that he liked how Harry looked when he was frustrated and made a mental note to infuriate him when they were alone. Snape blinked at the thought and nearly slapped himself for thinking something so utterly stupid. They were alone at the moment, so what was stopping him from provoking his student now? Snape hid a smile and leaned back in his chair, ready to torture the younger man in whatever way he saw fit.   
  
"Well Mr. Potter, since you think you can handle an adult conversation, why don't you prove it. I will converse with you for as long as you can refrain from giggling or doing something else immature." Snape challenged him. "Do you think you can manage that for the duration of whatever time we are stuck in here?"  
  
"I know I can." Harry replied coolly. "You just watch."  
  
Snape smirked and crossed his legs, resting his hands on the arms of the chair. "Do you have a significant other Mr. Potter?"  
  
"Yes." Harry replied promptly.  
  
Snape expected the boy to start fidgeting, but much to his chagrin the boy stayed calm in his seat. He noticed that there was a bit of tenseness in Harry's jaw so he decided to continue with the line of questioning.  
  
"Might I ask whom?"  
  
"Not that it's any of your business, but it's Darwin McLaughlay."  
  
Harry cast his gaze at his hands and Snape triumphantly smiled as the boy began to move nervously. It was only after a moment that the Professor realized whom Harry was talking about. The Potions Master sat up straight in his chair and uncrossed his legs, ready to storm over to the boy in a fury.  
  
"Darwin McLaughlay? Do you realize how much older he is than you?"  
  
Harry looked up at him in disdain, "Oh would you sod off? It's only five years."  
  
"Does your godfather know about this?" Snape asked, doubting that Sirius would approve of his godson's relationship with a man of twenty-one years.  
  
"Yes he knows, and no he doesn't like it. But he also realizes that I'm old enough to make my own decisions." Harry nearly spat out his response, getting irritated with the older man.  
  
"More like 'make your own mistakes'." Snape rolled his eyes. "You are such a teenager."  
  
"And you're an old coot," Harry huffed before turning in his chair so his legs were slung over the side.  
  
"And that just proves my statement." Snape had to hold back a chuckle. "Are you happy with Mr. McLaughlay?"  
  
"Darwin makes me very happy."  
  
Snape didn't like how smug Harry's voice sounded and wondered if the boy was insinuating what he thought he was. As he regarded the boy's unconscious gestures, he knew that Harry was reminiscing about something he and his boyfriend had done together. The green-eyed child touched his own lips in remembrance and his other hand clenched his robes fondly.  
  
"You're having sex with him?" Snape asked in shock.  
  
"You're starting to sound like Sirius." Harry exhaled heavily then chewed on his thumbnail absent-mindedly.  
  
"I never thought I'd hear that." Snape said dryly.  
  
"Well, now you have." Harry mused. "Are there any sudden epiphanies on your life in general now?"  
  
"No, just a craving for chocolate."  
  
Harry looked over his shoulder at the older man and shook his head, unable to comprehend that his Professor had a sense of humor. The dark-haired boy curled up in his chair and rested his head in his hand, trying to count the cracks in the walls.  
  
"I think your godfather is a bad influence on you." Snape stated casually, "You certainly aren't acting like either of your parents."  
  
"What were they like?" Harry asked after a moment's hesitation. "You went to school with them, what were they like?"  
  
"Your mother was Muggle-born, but she was very intelligent." Snape said softly. "She caught on to the wizarding world like she had been born to it. She was more than a bit like Miss Granger in that way. But she was just as rowdy as your father's crew when she felt like it. She also never stood for anyone trying to intimidate her." Snape grinned. "Mr. Malfoy's parents learned that quite quickly."  
  
"What do you mean?" Harry turned around in the chair, eager to hear more.  
  
"I shouldn't fill your head with that sort of thing."  
  
"Why not? I want to know about my mum. And if you don't tell me I'll find out anyways, one way or another."  
  
"You would, wouldn't you?" Snape snorted. "Impertinent brat that you are."  
  
Harry said nothing, choosing to unnerve his Professor by just staring at him until he caved. The Potions Master took one look at the boy and sighed, rubbing his temples before he continued with his reminiscing.  
  
"Keep in mind that I do not approve of this behavior from students, but it was quite amusing at the time.   
  
"It was during your parents fourth year. Narcissa and Lucius decided that they were going to torment your 'poor defenseless' mother." Snape snickered at this and had to take a deep breath before continuing. "They had worked for quite some time to create the perfect hex. It was designed so asn one hex wore off or was dispelled, another would take it's place. Only the caster would be able to remove it.  
  
"I remember seeing the two of them and some of their groupies working on frogs and spiders and other such animals to get the curses right, and I snooped around a bit, finding out that they were going to cast this on your mother. I had, and still have, a deep respect for your mother so I told her what they were doing.   
  
"Your father and his motley crew wanted to help her deal with it, but Lily said that she would deal with it herself. Of course finally we convinced her to accept our help and-- What's wrong, have I grow several heads all of a sudden?"  
  
"You? My mum, you liked her?"  
  
"I already told you, yes I liked your mother. We all actually got on quite well up till sometime in the sixth year. I believe you have some idea of what I'm talking about?" Snape stated darkly.  
  
"Yeah but it's still hard to imagine that you got along with my parents."  
  
"No, just your mother." Snape corrected him. "James had a ridiculous notion that I would try to steal your mother away from him, so we... clashed... a bit. We could handle one another's company as long as your mother was there, but once she left the room we were at one another's throats."  
  
"Oh." Harry blinked in surprise.  
  
The young man knew that everything the Professor was saying had to be true but it still seemed incredible to him. Harry rested his chin in his hands and listened intently as Snape continued, all the time wondering how it could be possible for his horrid Professor to be nice to someone. Was it something that happened to him that made him so jaded? Harry knew what happened in his Snape's sixth year, but was that the only incident?  
  
"Lily was one of the best students, so she had access to certain books in the library without needing a note. She and I cooked up a potion specifically for Narcissa and Lucius. While your godfather and Remus created a distraction, Lily slipped the potion into the cake donated by Pettigrew and left it on the Slytherin table before dinner. Once the cake had been consumed Lucius, Narcissa and the others started changing. It was a potion not unlike a polymorph, it changed them into walking, talking rats. Your father had collected the fur for your mother."  
  
"My mum did that?" Harry said in awe.  
  
"With a bit of help. We were lucky that we weren't caught and your mother, though she was never found out, is the reason why all students need notes from a Professor to access the restricted area of the library. The Librarian and the Potions Mistress at the time recognized the potion and the rule became more strictly enforced. Dumbledore probably knew it was her, but he never said a word."  
  
Harry and Snape looked over when they heard the door being opened. Standing in the doorframe was Dumbledore, a pleased look on his face. The old wizard opened the door wide and the two could see that behind him Peeves was being held by the Bloody Baron.  
  
"I suppose that you might want to leave now?" Dumbledore smiled.  
  
Harry nearly jumped out of his seat in his haste and Severus followed quickly after. It only took a moment for their eyes to re-adjust to the brighter light of the corridor and the two stretched themselves. Dumbledore chuckled and made his way back to his office, waving to them over his shoulder as he did so.  
  
"How long were we in there?" Harry asked his Professor.  
  
Snape glanced at the nearest clock and smirked. "One hour, give or take."  
  
"It didn't seem that long." Harry mused.  
  
"Quite. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do."  
  
Harry watched as the older man strode down the hallway and bit down on his lower lip gently, unsure if he should follow.  
  
"Professor?" Harry called.  
  
Snape turned, his robes flaring out as he did so. The Potions Master looked at his student expectantly and Harry glanced at his feet for inspiration and then up at his Professor.  
  
"Can we talk again, tomorrow?"  
  
Snape's shoulders fell slightly. As much as he and James hated one another, there had always been a tension between them. It had been years since he'd felt it and he was starting to feel it again with James' son, Harry. Looking into the boy's emerald green eyes, he couldn't see how he could refuse. Harry was the best and worst of both his parents.  
  
"Meet me here at the same time." Snape nodded.  
  
Harry nodded and nervously fingered his robe before turning back to Peeves and the Bloody Baron.  
  
"Thanks Peeves." Harry smiled. "I appreciate it."  
  
"Don't go thanking me, I have a reputation to keep." Peeves sneered. "You're just lucky that I don't like Snape that much. He must have hated being trapped in there with you."  
  
"I suppose so." Harry grinned as he turned to go back to his dormitory.  
  
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Well that was fun, if not a bit difficult. I hope you've enjoyed this little romp through insanity. I guess I need to do a bit of explaining? Well this fic falls in with 'Lets Do The Time Warp Again' (previous to it actually) which is archived at the Snape Fuh-Q Fest. Eventually I'm going to put these fics all in order, but until then you'll just have to go a bit nutsy. Sorry. 


End file.
